New Year's Eve 2018: A Guide to the Live Countdown Specials

8:00 AM 12/26/2018

by
Linda Xu

Ring in 2019 with these star-studded, televised events.

Ryan Seacrest

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for dick clark productions

This New Year's Eve will bring back some familiar faces: Ryan Seacrest, Andy Cohen, Anderson Cooper, Carson Daly and Steve Harvey will host various countdown celebrations, airing live on television screens across the country.

Daly returns with new co-hosts Chrissy Teigen and Leslie Jones for NBC’s New Year’s Eve, marking a comeback for the broadcast after the network chose to skip the special last year.

Seacrest will host the festivities from Times Square with live on-site reporting from Jenny McCarthy. Ciara will represent the West Coast as the host of the Hollywood Party, and Pretty Little Liars actress Lucy Hale will host the third annual Central Time Zone celebration from New Orleans.

“We have an incredible lineup in store for Times Square and are thrilled to welcome Christina back as our headliner for the first time since 2007,” said Mark Bracco, executive producer and executive vp programming and development at Dick Clark Productions, in a statement. “As one of the greatest voices in pop music, Christina’s performance right before the ball drops is sure to end 2018 with a bang!”

New Year's Eve Live With Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen

CNN

After hosting CNN's New Year's Eve special together for the first time in 2017, Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen will rejoin again for this year's celebration.

The duo will host live from Times Square, while Brooke Baldwin and Don Lemon count down from New Orleans. Additional correspondents will report from around the world. Cooper and Cohen will also be joined by Keith Urban, Dave Chappelle, Patti LaBelle, Jack Black and Gwen Stefani, for a performance and interview from Las Vegas.

"Getting to ring in the New Year with Andy is a total joy and I can’t wait for the big night!" said Cooper in a statement.

"Who would’ve thought 25 years of friendship would lead to an almost-tradition of co-hosting New Year’s Eve on CNN!?" added Cohen. “I’m so excited to spend New Year’s with my friend again and promise not to complain about the bitter cold!”

New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen will air from 8 p.m. to 1:05 a.m. ET.

NBC's New Year's Eve

NBC

Carson Daly, Chrissy Teigen and Leslie Jones

Getty Images

Carson Daly returns with some new co-hosts for NBC's New Year's Eve this year.

Model Chrissy Teigen and SNL's Leslie Jones will join Daly in Times Square for the countdown from New York. Country artist Keith Urban is set to host the Jack Daniel’s Music City Midnight: New Year’s Eve from Nashville’s Bicentennial State Park.

NBC is bringing the live special back after a short break. Last year, the network originally chose to run Sunday Night Football in lieu of a New Year's Eve special, but ultimately opted to shift the football schedule and run other programming instead.

NBC's New Year's Eve will air live from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. and from 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. ET/PT.

New Year's Eve With Steve Harvey: Live From Times Square

Fox

Steve Harvey and Maria Menounos

Venturelli/WireImage; Shannon Finney/Getty Images

Steve Harvey will host Fox's countdown to 2019 along with Maria Menounos.

Fox News' All-American New Year

Lisa "Kennedy" Montgomery and Pete Hegseth are set to host Fox News' offerings on New Year's Eve.

The network's All-American New Year program will feature musical performances from Bebe Rexha, Lovelytheband and Ninja. Fox News correspondent Griff Jenkins and Fox Nation's Primetime Highlights host Carley Shimkus will host the pre-program Countdown to an All-American New Year, while Fox Nation UN-PC hosts Tyrus and Britt McHenry will report live from Times Square. Also reporting from New York City will be Fox News correspondent Bryan Llenas and Fox News contributor Jedediah Bila, while Fox Nation First Thoughts and Final Thoughts host Tomi Lahren will report from from Nashville, Tenn., Fox commentator Lawrence Jones from New Orleans, La. and Fox News correspondent Phil Keating from Miami, Fla.

Countdown to an All-American New Year will air from 8 p.m. ET to 10 p.m. ET, while All-American New Year will kick off at 10 p.m. ET and last until 1 a.m. ET.

Netflix New Year's Eve Countdown

Netflix

Element Brand Group

For families opting to stay in this New Year's Eve, Netflix has curated 14 different on-demand countdowns to watch from the comfort of their couches.

The streamer will offer videos introducing new characters from animated series including Pinky Malinky, Super Monsters, Boss Baby and Motown Magic. Also available to watch are specials from Prince of Peoria, Alexa & Katie and Fuller House, catering to an older audience.

Subscribers can access the specials by typing "countdowns" into the search bar.

The countdowns will be available on Netflix on Dec. 26.

Times Square New Year's Eve Webcast

Multiple websites

Bebe Rexha

Courtesy of Gilt/Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage

Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment, co-organizers of New Year's Eve in Times Square, are planning a live Times Square New Year’s Eve commercial-free webcast. Bebe Rexha will headline the webcast, while lovelytheband and Southern California dance crew The Lab, who won the second season of NBC's World of Dance, will also perform separately during the event, along with the USO Show Troupe, who will perform their A Military Salute to honor our Armed Forces.

The webcast also will feature an array of other performances, interviews, original content and hourly countdowns from the center of the festivities in Times Square. And Univision will present two star musical performances yet to be announced.

In addition to the musical performances, Allison Hagendorf, global head of rock at Spotify, network television host, and live announcer of the MTV Video Music Awards and MTV Movie Awards, will return for her seventh year as the Times Square New Year’s Eve event host.

The 10th annual webcast will cover the action and festivities in Times Square, beginning with the Ball Raising at 6 p.m. EST.

The Times Square 2019 Webcast will begin at 6 p.m. ET on Dec. 31 and end at 12:15 a.m. on Jan. 1 ET. The show will be streamed live on multiple websites, including TimesSquareNYC.org, NewYearsEve.nyc, Livestream.com/2019 and TimesSquareBall.net